Consoles for playing video games and reproducing media such as movies have increasing become a part of home entertainment. Initial consoles, while enjoyable, were somewhat limited in processing power and graphical capabilities. Over time, however, consoles have significantly increased in power and capabilities and now provide significant levels of immersive entertainment. Thus, like home computers, individuals have come to expect to purchase a console for use in home entertainment.
Home entertainment, it should be noted, encompasses more than playing video games. Home entertainment includes the ability to play movies and music and to provide other capabilities as dictated by software. Thus, a console can provide significant home entertainment value.
Consoles, while sharing certain similarities with home computers, are unique because of the environment in which they work. Modern consoles have powerful processors and sophisticated video and sound reproduction capabilities. Consoles can be used to reproduce movies and music in addition to playing games that are highly immersive. Consoles, however, like other powerful computers, generate significant amounts of heat that typically must be removed by the use of heat transfer system such as one or more fans that creates an air flow suitable for transfer of the heat via convection. Therefore, sound generation is a significant issue for consoles because background noise generated by fans is undesirable. Thus, while a processor in a console still generates heat, the heat must be handled in a more elegant fashion than is typical for most home computers.
Part of the reason for the need for a more elegant design is that consoles tend to be packaged in smaller housing than most home computers. Thus, unlike a typical computer packaged in a tower case, the console, while containing many similar components, is packaged in a relatively compact space. Often there is little or no extra space within the console. Accordingly, upgrades to a console are more challenging than upgrades to a home computer.